"Only for a few months?"

Emily nodded. "Just long enough to ensure that my family comes to some financial disaster that is severe enough to force them to give up the great house. Without me to guide their investments and restrain their excesses the way Mama used to do, that should not take long. Especially if you arrange for them to be lured into particularly deep play at the tables. Once you have St. Clair back you no doubt intend to send me home to my family in disgrace."

"How very Machiavellian of me."

"It is quite a brilliant plan, actually." Emily felt obliged to give credit where it was due.

"Thank you," Simon said softly. "But I assume it will all come to naught now that you have discovered my scheme?"

"Oh, no, you can still make it work. All you need is my cooperation. And you know well enough you have that, my lord."

"You are telling me that you are willing to run off and live for a time as my mistress?" He picked up a small twig and toyed with it.

Emily folded her hands together. "Yes. If that were my only option. You know my feelings for you are very deep, my lord. I would, however, prefer to marry you. I would like to live with you for the rest of my life, not just for a few months or a year."

"I see."

"I know marriage was not your initial intent but I would like you to consider certain aspects of this matter that may not have occurred to you."

Simon did not respond to that for several seconds. And then the twig snapped in his fingers. "What aspects?"

She did not look at him. "I realize I am not precisely what a man of your position would wish for in a wife. I have no looks or position to speak of and you cannot have any affection for any Faringdon at the moment. And then, of course, there is the Unfortunate Incident in my past. But I feel I can make up for my deficiencies in several ways."

"Miss Faringdon, you never cease to amaze me. I cannot wait to hear the rest of this."

"I am very serious, my lord. First, I would like to point out that if you marry me, you will have achieved your goal of vengeance just as surely as if you had merely run off with me. You will have made my family financially dependent on you. They would only have access to my investment skills by applying to you for permission to consult me. Would that not be a suitable sort of revenge?"

"An interesting notion."

"You can keep all the Faringdons dangling on your financial puppet strings forever."

Simon looked thoughtful. "That is true."

Emily bit her lip anxiously. "Please consider something else, my lord. I think you will find that I will make you an excellent wife. I understand you, you see. I feel I know you very well through your letters. We have a great deal in common intellectually. We will have a certain conversational rapport that most couples never achieve."

"In short, you will not bore me over dinner, is that it?"

"I am certain we shall find much of mutual interest to discuss through the years. Surely that sort of companionship would be very rewarding to a man of your intellectual nature?"

"You are proposing that our relationship continue on the higher plane that characterized it in the beginning? You foresee our union as an intellectual association of two like-minded people?"

"Yes, precisely," Emily said, gaining enthusiasm as she saw he was paying close attention. "My lord, I fully comprehend now that you are not in love with me. Knowing that, I also realize you will not welcome any excesses of romantic passion on my part and I assure you I will not press for any from you."

"Miss Faringdon, you shock me."

"And you mock me," she retorted, stung.

"Not at all. I merely wonder what led you to conclude that I would not welcome any excesses of passion from you."

She looked down at her clasped hands, her face burning. "A detailed analysis of last night's events in the library, my lord."

"What about last night?"

She stifled a small sigh. "I thought at the time that you refused my offer of an illicit affair because you were being quite noble and gallant. I assumed you halted your lovemaking because you could not bring yourself to take advantage of a woman you cared about, even if she already had a sordid past."

"In other words, you assumed I was behaving like the gentleman I claim to be?"

She nodded quickly. "Yes. I realize now that you rejected my quite shameless offer because you are not in love with me."

"I see."

"And as you were not planning to actually marry me and were very unlikely to be forced into running off with me because my father is certain to give in to your demands, there was no real need to pretend to a passion you did not feel. Actually, under the circumstances you did behave like a gentleman." She frowned thoughtfully. "That is to say, as a gentleman plotting revenge might behave. I believe you are innately noble and generous, Blade."

"Now you flatter me."

"My lord, let me finish this business. I will summarize the advantages involved in marrying me. You will have achieved your goal of having a most excellent revenge against my family. You will be acquiring a wife with whom you can communicate on a higher plane. You will have a guarantee that I will not pester you with my ungoverned romantic passions. And there is one more thing."

"I am already overwhelmed by my good fortune, but pray continue."

Emily lifted her chin to face him. She was counting on this last item to carry the day for her. "Why, it is obvious, my lord. You will have full advantage of my financial abilities."

Simon's eyes glittered briefly. "That is certainly an interesting notion."

"My lord, consider," Emily said earnestly. "I know you are very wealthy but I would bid you remember that even the greatest fortune is subject to disaster. A few bad decisions in one's investments, a few reckless nights in the gaming hells, a bad spell in the funds, and all can soon lie in ruins."

"But with you around I will be assured of being able to recoup any losses I might sustain in the years ahead, is that it?"

Emily's hopes soared. She sensed she had finally driven home the bargain. "Yes, that is it exactly, my lord. Think of it as something like marrying an heiress. My talents on 'Change and related financial matters will constitute a sort of economic security for you, just as they have for my family in recent years."

"In other words, my dear, you are telling me that marrying you would be a particularly shrewd investment on my part?"

Emily relaxed for the first time since her tea party had been ruined. She smiled brilliantly. "Precisely, my lord. Marrying me will no doubt be the best investment you have ever made." She paused as honesty got the better of her. Her smile faded. "There is, of course, the Unfortunate Incident to be considered. I realize that it is a great strike against me. But perhaps if I stay in the country and do not attempt to enter Society, no one will notice?"

"Miss Faringdon, I assure you, the Unfortunate Incident is the least of my concerns."

"You believe we can successfully keep the scandal hidden?" she asked eagerly.

"I can safely promise you, Miss Faringdon, that if we wed, the scandal will cease to exist."